There is no substitute for skill and experience, and a genuine interest in cosmetic surgery, on the part of the surgeon. Cosmetic surgeons, although they are drawn from a number of different specialities, all have the basic attitude of mind that makes them interested in how their patients look after the operation. Nevertheless all human beings occasionally make mistakes or errors of judgement and surgeons (and not just cosmetic surgeons) sometimes produce results that are not up to their usual standard. Sometimes this is a minor problem such as a misplaced suture slightly distorting the edge of a wound, or it could be a more significant error such as too much skin removed in trying to correct a crease.

In general terms such consequences of surgery are unusual. Much more likely is the situation where something happens which is outside the surgeon's control, such as an allergic drug reaction or where a patient has a bleeding tendency that was unsuspected before the operation. This can make the achievement of an optimum result very difficult indeed. Although technical perfection is the aim during the operation it is not always possible and the preoperative counselling of the patient should take this into account.

Nowadays anaesthesia is not nearly as risky or a source of as many problems as it used to be and a healthy patient has little to fear from a routine anaesthetic.

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